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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
emotional
funny
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you Kate Clayborn & Kensington Books for my #gifted copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
When I really love a book, I either speed read it or drag it out to not miss a detail. This book was the latter. It’s the first book in a long time I took my time with because I was dreading it ending & having to say goodbye to these characters.
I knew going in that this was the perfect book for me - family dynamics are always an interest of mine. This story surrounding Jess and Tegan, half-sisters whose mom abandoned them to run away with a con man leaving Jess to raise Tegan, was the perfect storm of trauma, healing, & love. Jess was fiercely protective of Tegan, almost to a detriment to both of them. Getting to see her slowly open up to not only her sister, but also Adam, & start healing from the trauma her mom left her with was moving. My only wish is that we saw more of her relationship with her dad.
Tegan was such a stereotypical younger sibling - the kind who thinks they know everything & are tougher than nails. I loved seeing her façade falter and her realize it’s okay to lean on Jess and to confront her own trauma she had buried deep.
Adam, oh Adam. Clayborn couldn’t have written a more perfect MMC if she tried. He was stoic and supportive and just oh so caring. He was ready to throw his own life to the curb if it meant protecting Jess and Teagan from the emotions that came with searching for their mother.
Clayborn did an exemplary job of showing therapy in an honest way - how sometimes you hate going & wish to be anywhere else, but how much growth can come from it. Each character was written with such extreme detail to their character arc that it made the reader root for them. The topics covered in this, specifically abandonment by a parent, were handled with such care and intense emotion that I was brought to tears more than once.
This book was part mystery/true crime, part romance, part family trauma/healing, and all parts perfect. Last year, Georgie, All Along practically changed my life and after this book, I have to say Kate Clayborn is a must-read author.
When I really love a book, I either speed read it or drag it out to not miss a detail. This book was the latter. It’s the first book in a long time I took my time with because I was dreading it ending & having to say goodbye to these characters.
I knew going in that this was the perfect book for me - family dynamics are always an interest of mine. This story surrounding Jess and Tegan, half-sisters whose mom abandoned them to run away with a con man leaving Jess to raise Tegan, was the perfect storm of trauma, healing, & love. Jess was fiercely protective of Tegan, almost to a detriment to both of them. Getting to see her slowly open up to not only her sister, but also Adam, & start healing from the trauma her mom left her with was moving. My only wish is that we saw more of her relationship with her dad.
Tegan was such a stereotypical younger sibling - the kind who thinks they know everything & are tougher than nails. I loved seeing her façade falter and her realize it’s okay to lean on Jess and to confront her own trauma she had buried deep.
Adam, oh Adam. Clayborn couldn’t have written a more perfect MMC if she tried. He was stoic and supportive and just oh so caring. He was ready to throw his own life to the curb if it meant protecting Jess and Teagan from the emotions that came with searching for their mother.
Clayborn did an exemplary job of showing therapy in an honest way - how sometimes you hate going & wish to be anywhere else, but how much growth can come from it. Each character was written with such extreme detail to their character arc that it made the reader root for them. The topics covered in this, specifically abandonment by a parent, were handled with such care and intense emotion that I was brought to tears more than once.
This book was part mystery/true crime, part romance, part family trauma/healing, and all parts perfect. Last year, Georgie, All Along practically changed my life and after this book, I have to say Kate Clayborn is a must-read author.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a sweet book. It was easy to root for the main characters.
(Open door romance)
(Open door romance)
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There are many ways to disappear and Jess Greene is an expert in all of them.
Ten years ago, Jess stepped in to raise her eight year old half sister, Tegan, when their mother bailed for a man after only a few months together. But this wasn’t the first time; their mom is a serial leaver.
But this time is different. This time the man her mom left with is an established con man about whom a wildly popular podcast had been made some years ago.
Jess has been keeping this and so much more from Tegan, who is now 18 years old, on the cusp of leaving for college. Tegan is desperate for any information about the mother she barely remembers, but Jess has all but made her disappear.
When the doorbell rings and Jess opens it to find Salem Durant, the host of that podcast, and Adam Hawkins, her producer, she has difficult choices to make.
And so reluctant, secretive, disappearing Jess agrees to travel across the country searching for her mother using a few old postcards and info Salem and Hawk have dug up.
Along the way, while the sisters’ relationship is tested, Jess also becomes vulnerable to the kind, generous Adam, former football player and keeper of his own secrets.
This is being marketing as a love story, but to me it’s so much more. It’s about family and sisterhood, about trust and opening yourself up to both the good and the bad. And yes, it is about Jess and Adam figuring out how to love one another in the way they each need. But it’s not simple — it’s full of grit and heartache, tenderness and joy.
Kate Clayborn is now an automatic buy for me.
Holds up with a reread.
Ten years ago, Jess stepped in to raise her eight year old half sister, Tegan, when their mother bailed for a man after only a few months together. But this wasn’t the first time; their mom is a serial leaver.
But this time is different. This time the man her mom left with is an established con man about whom a wildly popular podcast had been made some years ago.
Jess has been keeping this and so much more from Tegan, who is now 18 years old, on the cusp of leaving for college. Tegan is desperate for any information about the mother she barely remembers, but Jess has all but made her disappear.
When the doorbell rings and Jess opens it to find Salem Durant, the host of that podcast, and Adam Hawkins, her producer, she has difficult choices to make.
And so reluctant, secretive, disappearing Jess agrees to travel across the country searching for her mother using a few old postcards and info Salem and Hawk have dug up.
Along the way, while the sisters’ relationship is tested, Jess also becomes vulnerable to the kind, generous Adam, former football player and keeper of his own secrets.
This is being marketing as a love story, but to me it’s so much more. It’s about family and sisterhood, about trust and opening yourself up to both the good and the bad. And yes, it is about Jess and Adam figuring out how to love one another in the way they each need. But it’s not simple — it’s full of grit and heartache, tenderness and joy.
Kate Clayborn is now an automatic buy for me.
Holds up with a reread.
emotional
mysterious
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i did like the love story and mystery nature of this book, and it would be 3 but the beginning was sooooooo slow and i have some qualms
here come some spoilers
i still have so many questions like why the mom vanished off the face of the earth and never reached out to her kids again? legit was just that she was also a con woman, like a one page explanation and that was it, so glazed over. as was the whole lynton debacle, like you mean to tell me that this whooooole book is about this mystery con man and the havoc he wreaked and at the very end it’s revealed that he just died? like that’s it? AND this whole subplot of cope’s story and how important it was that it was shared with the world and all we get at the end is “oh yeah podcast was released woohoo”?? too many loose ends im still sitting here like .. huh
here come some spoilers
i still have so many questions like why the mom vanished off the face of the earth and never reached out to her kids again? legit was just that she was also a con woman, like a one page explanation and that was it, so glazed over. as was the whole lynton debacle, like you mean to tell me that this whooooole book is about this mystery con man and the havoc he wreaked and at the very end it’s revealed that he just died? like that’s it? AND this whole subplot of cope’s story and how important it was that it was shared with the world and all we get at the end is “oh yeah podcast was released woohoo”?? too many loose ends im still sitting here like .. huh